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History · Anderson Township

Anderson Township’s post office opened in 1850

Most of Anderson Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1932 on.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Anderson Township began

When was Anderson Township founded?

1850

The Anderson Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Anderson (1850) and Albright (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 460176 years
Founding year: the first Anderson Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Anderson Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Anderson Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Anderson Township, and 2 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Anderson Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Anderson Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Anderson
1850–1860
Albright
1892–1908
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AllrightChoctaw
Gone or out of use
Avon SchoolschoolChoctaw SchoolschoolCraig ChapelchurchFreedom SchoolschoolJackson SchoolschoolKile SchoolschoolPossum Ridge SchoolschoolSiverly Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Anderson Township
BlizzardFoxNortonShottsZiegler

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Anderson Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Anderson Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Anderson Township is one of fifteen townships in Clark County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 460 and it contained 183 housing units.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 417 to 460 (+10%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Anderson Township, 1850 to 1932

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Anderson post office opens
  3. 1860Post officeThe Anderson post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Albright post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1908Post officeThe Albright post office closes
  7. 1918Born hereRay S. Cline is born here
  8. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Anderson Township on the map, 1932 to 1964

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Anderson Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Anderson Township on the 1932 USGS mapAnderson Township on the 1964 USGS map1932Marshall sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Anderson Township.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Marshall Township9 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAuburn TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMelrose TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDarwin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMartinsville TownshipIts storyA−

Questions about Anderson Township’s history

What year was Anderson Township founded?

The Anderson Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.